ABSTRACT
Economists have a reputation, perhaps undeserved, for disagreeing. They do disagree about some things and, as we have seen, these disagreements matter to both lay people and policy makers. In February 1993 a range of economic analyses of, and forecasts for, the UK economy were available, based on the different models used by the individual members of the Panel of Independent Forecasters. This chapter examines the debates about unemployment, the public sector borrowing requirement and the deficit on the balance of payments of the current account in order to exemplify the controversies that occur in economics. 1 However, the analysis does more than provide an account of the interpretative flexibility present in economics: it also highlights the links between ideas and social actions. Just as recognizing the existence of germs requires certain actions on the parts of doctors and nurses, so too recognizing the existence (or not) of hysteresis requires a certain type of policy response from the government.
